The drill program announced in September (See press release: September 10, 2024), where Riverside outlined its goals to define and expand key targets at Cecilia. The latest program hit gold mineralization in each target area and broader epithermal alteration consistent with target styles like the nearby Mercedes Mine Sonora and Oatman Gold District Arizona. At Magallanes Hill, two holes were drilled at the San Jose target, followed by one hole on the eastern flank, referred to as the East Target. Additionally, two holes were drilled in the Mesa area to the south: one testing the Mayra Vein concept and the final hole drilled eastward to intersect the Mesa Fault, a significant structural target.
"We are encouraged by the results of the Q4 2024 drilling program, which focused on testing geological features with limited previous drilling, just one or two holes in each area, and yielded positive indicators while also uncovering some unexpected geologic surprises," said John-Mark Staude, President and CEO of Riverside Resources. "This program not only confirmed earlier gold intercepts but also expanded the scale of exploration with significant step-outs and new target areas. The ongoing work underscores our commitment to unlocking new opportunities and delivering sustained value to our stakeholders."
Highlights of the Drill Program:
San Jose Vein System (North Breccia): Two holes were drilled to extend testing of this structure, building upon results from previous drilling and assay work. The San Jose system has shown significant mineralization potential, as highlighted in prior programs including samples returning values of up to 48.3 g/t Au over 0.75 m at surface (See press release: January 28, 2021). Drilling to depths of 500 to 800 meters successfully intersected the San Jose structure in both holes, confirming the continuity of this extensive vein system. Notably, hole CED24-010 returned an intercept of 3.41 g/t Au over 4 meters, starting at a depth of 76 meters, with an additional lower intercept including 0.39 g/t Au over 5.25m starting at 319m identified along the projected extension of the San Jose vein which topographically is over 500m below the Magallanes peak and previous drill intercepts in the upper part of the San Jose vein system. These results are illustrated in the cross-section below.
East Target: A single hole was drilled perpendicular to known mineralization identified in surface samples and previous drilling by Cambior (1996). This hole crossed through thick zones of alteration, adding valuable geological data for this target and confirming that Cecilia has strong feeder zones for gold. The hole intersected at least 6 gold bearing intervals with one being 0.38 g/t Au over 1.75m starting from 149.25m. This hole was drilled eastward in order to constrain the dip as past drill holes had been drilled westward. The single new hole intercepted multiple veins for this part of the eastern Magallanes system as shown on the map below and on the Company website
Mesa Ranch Area (Mayra Vein): The 2024 program was the first time the Mayra Vein has been tested with this the first drill to be conducted on the broader Cecilia project, which encompasses over a dozen identified targets. This hole was intended to test the northwest trending epithermal veins related with felsic dikes that potentially feed toward and likely cut the Puma Dome. These district-scale targets from the Mesa Ranch area have potential along strike for further exploration. Core drill hole CED24-011 intersected multiple vein zones, including an interval of 0.21 g/t Au over 2 meters starting at 281 meters. The gold-bearing interval featured quartz veining and oxides whose projection aligns with surface-sampled veins that extend over 700 meters along strike, further highlighting the potential and continued interest in these vein systems.
South Mesa Fault Zone (Mesa South): The final hole of the program focused on the extensive South Mesa Fault; a 10 km-long structure comparable to fault-controlled gold systems like those in Nevada's Midas District. Drill hole CED24-012 intersected the fault at 110m and comprises a 5m thick interval of sheared brecciated rock which can be projected to surface and followed along strike. Surface samples returned gold values of over 2 g/t gold along the surface projection of this fault. Plans are in place for additional exploration of the Mesa South region for the first half of 2025, which will include tracking the Mesa fault's continuity along strike.
The table below summarizes the locations and depths for the five holes completed in this first drilling round with Fortuna Mining.
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The drilling location map below shows the 5 holes (3 drill pads) which correlate with the drill hole descriptive table above. Drill hole CED24-008 at Magallanes was deeper than any previous drilling. Figure 1 shows the drill traces as they intersected the down dip projection of the veins.
Figure 1- Geology map and location of the five 2024 drill holes shown in red. The straight and thin black lines near Magallanes are drill holes from previous campaigns. This new program stepped out to test the East Target (CED24-009) and the Mayras and South Mesa with single holes.
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The cross-section figure below highlights hole CED24-010 from the drill program, which demonstrates the intersections of multiple vein structures. These structures are now interpreted to potentially extend over 800 meters vertically, suggesting they could be part of a significant epithermal system. Further exploration is planned for 2025, including an MT (Magneto-telluric) geophysical survey to refine our targeting of the system. Based on the results of these surveys, additional drilling may be undertaken to further evaluate the system's potential. The Project includes numerous untested targets throughout the 60 km sq land package.
Figure 2: Cross section of the Magallanes Dome showing the volcanic units and structures
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This drill program advanced the understanding of the Cecilia system's geology, confirming significant low-sulfidation epithermal features in the Cerro Magallanes area. Data from the drilling suggests the mineralization system is tilted southeast, supported by surface mapping, geochemical analysis, and structural modeling.
The Cecilia Gold Project continues to demonstrate significant potential. Fortuna Mining's technical expertise and funding have enabled systematic exploration, with the partnership potentially targeting a larger follow-up program in 2025. The drilling positively demonstrated scale and alterations consistent with a mineralized system worthy of more advanced drilling in addition to continued target testing.
Stock Option Grant:
On February 4th, 2025, the Company granted 1,450,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to certain Directors, Officers and Consultants of the Company. The Options are exercisable at $0.13 per share for a period of 5 years from the date of grant. Options granted to individuals in their capacity as a director vest in 3 equal instalments over 18 months. Options granted to Officers and Consultants vest in 4 equal instalments over 12 months. The Options were granted pursuant to the Company's shareholder approved stock option plan and are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange and any applicable regulatory hold periods.
Qualified Person & QA/QC:
The scientific and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the Cecilia Project was reviewed and approved by Freeman Smith, P.Geo, a non-independent qualified person to Riverside Resources who is responsible for ensuring that the information provided in this news release is accurate and who acts as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Drill core samples were sealed with zip straps and picked up by Bureau Veritas at site who took custody and drove samples to the Bureau Veritas Laboratories in Hermosillo, Mexico for fire assaying for gold. The rejects remained with Bureau Veritas in Mexico while the pulps were transported to Bureau Veritas' laboratory under their custody to Vancouver, BC, Canada and analyzed for 45 elements using their ICP/ES-MS analysis. A QA/QC program was implemented as part of the sampling procedures for the exploration program. Standards, duplicates and blanks were inserted into the sample stream prior to being sent to the laboratory. The QA/QC analysis was completed with results fitting well with standards, blanks and duplicates not varying beyond normal statistical variance.
About Riverside Resources Inc.:
Riverside is a well-funded exploration company driven by value generation and discovery. The Company has over $4M in cash, no debt and less than 75M shares outstanding with a strong portfolio of gold-silver and copper assets and royalties in North America. Riverside has extensive experience and knowledge operating in Mexico and Canada and leverages its large database to generate a portfolio of prospective mineral properties. In addition to Riverside's own exploration spending, the Company also strives to diversify risk by securing joint-venture and spin-out partnerships to advance multiple assets simultaneously and create more chances for discovery. Riverside has properties available for option, with information available on the Company's website at www.rivres.com.
ON BEHALF OF Riverside Resources Inc.
"John-Mark Staude"
Dr. John-Mark Staude, President & CEO
For additional information contact:
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Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking information. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology (e.g., "expect"," estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "plans"). Such information involves known and unknown risks -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Riverside in its public securities filings that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
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